WILFRED Bouma has praised Martin O'Neill for transforming him into an accomplished Premier League performer.

WILFRED Bouma has praised Martin O'Neill for transforming him into an accomplished Premier League performer.

The 29-year-old Dutch international arrived at Villa as a centre-back in August 2005 from PSV Eindhoven in a £3.5million transfer.

He struggled at club level initially and even last season saw O'Neill continually revert to Gareth Barry as his preferred left-back.

But times have changed. Bouma is an ever-present in the league this season and has, in fact, missed just one start in the Premier League since February.

He ended an 18-month exile from the Dutch scene when he was recalled to their squad last February for a friendly in Amsterdam against Russia.

Now preparing for Wednesday's crucial Euro 2008 qualifier with Slovenia, Bouma is an integral part of Marco van Basten's side.

He played 90 minutes in the 1-0 defeat in Romania on Saturday and has chosen to thank O'Neill for the part the Irishman has paid in his turnaround after enduring a wretched time under David O'Leary.

"Martin has helped me become a better player,'' he said. "When he first came I wasn't playing, but that helped me as well. He just told me what he expected of me.

"I listened, because if I didn't perform as he wanted me to perform, I wasn't in the squad. So he's definitely helped me improve.

"I'm a better player than I was before I came here and that's helped me back into the international side. I had to wait a while, but I have forced my way back.

"If you're not doing well at your club, there's no way you'll play for your country. So I'm trying to play the best I can every week for Villa and that has got me back into the international side."

Bouma admits it took him an age to settle at Villa, not only having to adapt to a new country, but a new style of football and position.

"When I signed, I knew I would have to adapt to this kind of football and once I did, I started enjoying it.

"The first couple of games, and especially my debut, are not something I want to remember. But now I'm enjoying every minute of it.

"I think I started to settle in last season. Now I am a regular, but I know I have to prove it every week otherwise people are waiting for their chance. We've got a lot of good young players, so I have to keep up my performance."

Bouma found the pace of the Premier League difficult at first.

"It took some time to adapt to the pace of the game here," he said. "It's a lot faster, there are more challenges and it's much more physical. There's no rest here. I had to adapt to that and once I overcame that, people saw what I can do. That's what I have to do now week in, week out."

Bouma is now looking to build on a solid start to the season but admits there is room for improvement.

"We should have two more points after being 4-1 up at Tottenham, then the start would have been even better. Overall we're quite pleased, but we always want to do better.

"From my own point of view, I'm in good shape and things have been okay. I think I can still do better, but I'm quite pleased."